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The Global Economy As An After School Special

By Peter Tchir of Academy Securities

The Global Economy As An After School Special

This follows directly from Friday’s Warning, for lack of a better word, which leaned heavily on last weekend’s Be Afraid of Certainty, Not Uncertainty. Since anything can happen between the time this is distributed and “Liberation” Day, it seemed like a good time to take a view from 20,000 feet. Which leads me to discussing After School Specials.

For those who don’t know, the After School Special was a type of TV show. Longer (1 hour) with a bigger budget than a typical show aimed at children. But there was always a message or a moral to the show.

The typical show ran something along the lines of:

A bad person, or group (bully, extortion, protection, etc.) does something to a good person, or group (generally weaker, awkward, or “loners”).
Over time the “good” person or group trains, gets organized, or does something to fight back against the bad group or person.
After an attempt or two, the good people win.
More often than not, the “bad” people realize that they have been bad, and come to an agreement with the “good” people or even team up and let bygones be bygones. As “phony” as the rest of the plot, this ending always seemed the phoniest of all.
Right now, the trade war looks a lot like this, with a few plot “twists.”

The U.S. administration believes it has been taken advantage of for years hence it is the good team in this global economic “movie.” The administration is just starting to fight back as the underdog to get even with the bullies/extortionists/protection racketeers.
The rest of the world sees the U.S. as being the bully, the one upsetting the order, and flaunting traditional rules of engagement. Hence much of the rest of the world views themselves as the good people in the global economic “movie.”
Basically, the global economy (and some of this may apply to the ongoing wars and attempts at peace) is living in an After School Special – though everyone seems to believe they are on the “good” side.

The Problem with “An Eye for an Eye”

In theory an “eye for an eye” makes some sense. You poke out my eye, I poke out your eye. We are all even. We move on. Maybe this is where the concept of “reciprocity” fits in?

The problem is, in the real world, even at the After School Special level of preachiness, you can see how things can get out of control. No one can figure out who took the first eye, so it just keeps going on and on. Sound familiar to the tariff “negotiations” or rationalizations?

Why did you slap me?
Because you made fun of my girlfriend.
Oh, but I said that because you mushed my brother’s ice cream into his face.
And I’m sure there was a reason to mush the brother’s face in ice cream.
And on and on and on.
Okay, this sounds juvenile (and it is) but isn’t what we are…

SpaceX Offers Starlink To Myanmar, Thailand After 1000 Dead In Massive Earthquake

SpaceX announced on Friday that it is “prepared to provide Starlink kits to assist with communications and relief efforts” in Thailand and Myanmar (also known as Burma), after more than 1,000 people were killed when a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck the country earlier in the day.

Devastating to hear of the earthquake’s toll on Thailand and Myanmar. The SpaceX team is prepared to provide Starlink kits to assist with communications needs and relief efforts, pending any necessary governmental approvals.
— Starlink (@Starlink) March 29, 2025
In addition to a death toll of 1,002 as of Saturday, there are 2,376 injured and 30 missing according to the military government, up sharply from the 144 dead reported by state media on Friday.

As the Epoch Times notes further, the U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter of the earthquake—which was 6.2 miles deep—was close to the city of Mandalay in Burma.

A dramatic video circulating on social media shows a high-rise building in Bangkok collapsing in a cloud of dust as construction workers run for their lives. Thai authorities said nine people had died and 101 were missing in Bangkok, mostly laborers trapped in the rubble of the collapsed tower.

High-rise building collapses due to strong #earthquake in Chatuchak, Bangkok. #แผ่นดินไหว #กรุงเทพมหานคร pic.twitter.com/fiRV6ZIZq2
— Weather Monitor (@WeatherMonitors) March 28, 2025
The high-rise building was being built for the auditor general of the Thai government by the China Railway Construction Corporation.

The USGS’s predictive modeling estimated the death toll could exceed 10,000 people in Burma, and that losses could be greater than the value of the country’s gross domestic product.

In Burma, the military government has declared a state of emergency in six regions and states, including Mandalay and the capital, Naypyidaw.

It said on the Telegram messaging app, “The state will make inquiries on the situation quickly and conduct rescue operations along with providing humanitarian aid.”

The Red Cross said: “Initial reports from the ground suggest the earthquake has caused significant damage. Information on humanitarian needs is still being gathered.”
Machinery is moved on the site of an under-construction building collapse in Bangkok on March 29, 2025, a day after an earthquake struck central Burma and Thailand. Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP via Getty Images

The Burmese government’s spokesman, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, told state-run MRTV television channel that blood was in high demand in hospitals in Mandalay, Sagaing, and Naypyidaw.

The president of the European Commission wrote on X: “Heartbreaking scenes from Myanmar and Thailand after the devastating earthquake. My thoughts are with the victims & their families. Europe’s Copernicus satellites are already helping first responders. We are ready to provide more support. We stand with you in full solidarity.”

Chinese media reported that the earthquake was felt in Yunnan and Sichuan provinces.

Burma’s second biggest city, Mandalay, was close to the epicenter, and a local resident, Htet Naing Oo, said several people had been trapped inside a tea shop which had collapsed.

She said, “We couldn’t go in. The situation is very bad.”

Photographs and videos posted on Facebook showed widespread…

Federal Judge Halts Shutdown Of Voice Of America

Authored by Bill Pan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from dismantling Voice of America (VOA), the government-funded international news service whose 1,200 reporters and employees were placed on paid leave earlier this month.
The Voice of America building in Washington on June 15, 2020. Andrew Harnik/AP Photo

The judge, J. Paul Oetken of the Southern District of New York, on Friday issued a temporary restraining order in favor of VOA employees and their unions. The order prevents the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees VOA, from shutting down the broadcasting network and its associated radio programs.

VOA employees filed the lawsuit against USAGM, its acting Director Victor Morales, and special adviser Kari Lake on March 21. The complaint accused the agency of failing to fulfill its legally mandated missions and violating both press freedom and the separation-of-powers doctrine when it took a “chainsaw” to the outlet, ordering the entire staff not to report to work, turning off the service, and locking the agency’s doors.

In his ruling, Oetken stated that VOA was likely to succeed on its claims, noting that USAGM’s actions appeared unconstitutional. He said that Lake lacked legal authority to withhold congressionally appropriated funds or terminate USAGM staff, programming, or contracts.

“By withholding the funds statutorily appropriated to fully administer USAGM, VOA, and its affiliates … the executive is usurping Congress’s power of the purse and its legislative supremacy,” he wrote.

The judge did not require VOA to resume broadcasts, but made it clear that employees must not be terminated while the court determines whether the shutdown violates the Constitution or other federal administrative laws.

Friday’s order echoed a similar ruling by another district judge earlier in the week, which granted a temporary restraining order to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, blocking its funding freeze. The Trump administration has since stated in court filings that it has resumed funding for these outlets.

President Donald Trump and his supporters have been critical of VOA for years over alleged bias against conservative Americans and in favor of America’s adversaries.

In 2020, the White House sent an email accusing VOA of spending taxpayers’ money to “speak for authoritarian regimes.” It took issue with, among other things, a VOA social media post featuring a video of a light show celebrating the end of the lockdown in Wuhan, the Chinese megapolis where the COVID-19 virus first emerged; as well as the agency’s characterization of China’s effort to control the outbreak as a “model” for other nations.

“VOA too often speaks for America’s adversaries—not its citizens,” The White House said. “Journalists should report the facts, but VOA has instead amplified Beijing’s propaganda.”

The VOA first began broadcasting in 1942 in German-occupied territories as part of the Allies’ effort to engage Axis propaganda broadcasts with counterpropaganda. In the following decades, it became a staple in the propaganda war against the Soviet Union and other communist regimes. Over time, it evolved into a global news organization, now operating in more…